Mondelez fined $366 mln by EU for cross-border trade curbs
Adds detail and Vestager and Mondelez comment
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) -Oreo maker Mondelez International MDLZ.O was fined 337.5 million euros ($365.7 million) by EU antitrust regulators on Thursday for impeding cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products between EU countries.
The sanction by the European Commission continues its crackdown on companies imposing territorial supply constraints on distributors and retailers.
The Commission said Mondelez had engaged in anti-competitive deals and had also abused its dominant position in breach of EU antitrust laws. The company's fine was reduced by 15% after it acknowledged its wrongdoing.
"We are determined to uphold fundamental freedoms in the European Union and to ensure that European citizens have access to the biggest variety at the lowest prices that the market can offer," EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told a press conference.
Mondelez said the EU case concerned historical, isolated incidents, most of which stopped or were remedied well in advance of the Commission's investigation.
"This historical matter is not representative of who we are and the strong culture of compliance for which we strive," a Mondelez spokesperson said.
The Commission said that Mondelez limited the territories or customers to which seven wholesale customers could resell its products between 2012 and 2019 and also prevented 10 exclusive distributors in some EU countries from replying to sale requests from customers in other EU countries between 2006 and 2020.
Between 2015 and 2019 the company also refused to supply a broker in Germany to prevent the resale of chocolate tablet products in four countries where prices were higher, the EU watchdog said, adding that Mondelez also stopped the supply of such products in the Netherlands to prevent them from being imported into Belgium.
($1 = 0.9228 euros)
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
Editing by David Goodman
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
